Montesquieu and the Discovery of the Social [Hardcover]

Montesquieu is often considered the first social thinker. Today, when 'the end of the social' has been proclaimed, it is time to reconsider its beginnings. In a wide-ranging, original interpretation of The Spirit of the Laws, this book explores what did it mean to 'discover the social', and what can it mean to recover the social today?Introduction The Question concerning Laws The Nature of the Three Regimes: Political Bonds The Spirit of the Three Regimes: Social Bonds Particular General Spirits: Exceptions and Contrasts Conclusion: Speaking of the SocialBRIAN SINGER is a Professor at Glendon College York University, Canada. He has previously published Society, Theory and the French Revolution, has translated works by Claude-Levi Strauss and Jean Baudrillard, amongst others.